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More Media/Ad Trend Predictions for 2010

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:00:51 +0000

In a recent article , we looked at some predictions from Nielsen for advertising trends in 2010. These included optimizing media convergence being a top priority, new models emerging to take advantage of smartphones, more cross-media ad campaigns, an increase in commercialization of social networking hubs, and more interesting and interactive online ads. A representative for Cross MediaWorks sent us some predictions for media, advertising and content trends in 2010 from that firm as well, that are worth sharing. These come from CEO Marc Krigsman (formerly EVP of Primedia Digital Video) and COO Larry Rubin (formerly SVP, Business Development, USA Networks and Vice President, Associate General Counsel – Transactions, Viacom). 1. An improvement in ad spending in 2010, especially by the automotive, financial, and healthcare industries. However, spending will not return to pre-downturn levels. Overall, they think it will be a conservative year with conservative growth as companies concentrate on fine tuning their messages. 2. There will [be] more emphasis on measurement of performance in 2010 with data being incorporated from other areas such as shopping carts, social media, and credit-card data. 3. Advertising on both broadcast and cable television will remain the most cost-effective option for advertisers; viewership for both will continue to increase in 2010. 4. Continue reading →

The Most Searched For Terms of 2009

cgseo — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:14:08 +0000

Experian Hitwise announced that it has found Facebook to be the top search term overall for the year 2009 after analyzing the top 300 search terms for the year. This is the first year Facebook has been the top search term, and it accounted for 0.67% of all searches, according to the research firm. Variations of the term Facebook actually accounted for four of the top twenty-five terms, the firm says. "Facebook" itself moved up from the 10th spot in 2008 to the top spot in 2009. Although MySpace has taken a lot of flack in recent memory, as Facebook has gained popularity, MySpace was still the second most-searched term in 2009, according to Experian Hitwise. It had been the top term for the previous three years. Following MySpace on the list was Craigslist, YouTube, and Yahoo Mail. "Analysis of the search terms reveals that social networking–related terms dominated the results, accounting for 2.48 percent of the top 300 searches," a representative for Experian Hitwise tells WebProNews. Continue reading →

MySpace May Be After Flixster

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:50:42 +0000

Over the past several months, MySpace has become much more formidable thanks to some new features, a deal with a record label, and a couple of acquisitions. Continue reading →

Women Favor Facebook Over Twitter

cgseo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:39:26 +0000

The majority (86%) of women are now using popular social networks, a 48 percent increase over 2008, according to a new study by SheSpeaks. In addition, social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have become drivers of purchase intent among women, with 50 percent of social media users reporting they have purchased products because of information on social networking sites, and 40 percent have used coupon codes found on social networks. The largest increase in social media use was among women 50 years of age and over, whose participation grew from 31 percent in 2008 to 70 percent in 2009. Social media participation was up across all age groups this year. "Last year our members were going online primarily to research purchases, but now they are looking to social media to help them research, guide and facilitate every kind of transaction, from social exchanges to purchases," said Aliza Freud, Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks . "Women have become more comfortable using social media, and for marketers, the overall growth and habitual use of social media represents opportunities to reach and engage women of all ages, and influence their purchase decisions." Facebook is the most popular social network among women with 95 percent belonging to the site, up 46 percent from one year ago. MySpace participation declined over the last year (63% to 42%), while nearly 40% of the women surveyed said they have Twitter accounts. Although many women use both Facebook and Twitter, 80% prefer Facebook. In fact, 25% of those surveyed abandoned Twitter after creating their accounts, while Facebook use only declined 7% for women after creating Twitter accounts. Facebook users also reported they are two times more likely to log in daily (72%), compared to Twitter users (36%). "Although Facebook is currently more popular than Twitter among women, they each share a purpose in women's lives," said Freud. "Facebook serves women's need to interact with friends and share photos, while Twitter has become a tool that is primarily used for professional networking and learning about up-to-the-minute news, promotions and deals." The study also found online video has grown in popularity over the last year. Almost 40 percent of women indicated they frequently watch video and TV content online, and 85 percent say they watch it frequently or sometimes. "Our members are spending more time watching video on the Web, especially now that more premium content is available," said SheSpeaks CMO Fiona Pietruski. "It is important for marketers to recognize that influential female consumers are spending their time with many types of digital media, where they can be reached with advertising and marketing messaging." Continue reading →

UK Launches Initiative To Keep Children Safe Online

cgseo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:16:33 +0000

Officials in the UK have announced plans to require children beginning at age 5 to be taught about online safety starting in 2011. The new initiative called "Click Clever Click Safe" was created by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). "The internet provides our children with a world of entertainment, opportunity and knowledge - a world literally at their fingertips," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "But we must ensure that the virtual world is as safe for them as this one." The government says that 99 percent of 8-17 year olds have access to the Internet. New research found that 18 percent of young people had come across "harmful or inappropriate content online," and 33 percent of children said their parents where unaware of what they do on the Internet. Under the new initiative Internet companies, charities and the government will be independently reviewed against UKCCIS standards to keep children safe online. Young people and parents will be targeted by a new Digital Code "Zip it, Block it, Flag it," that will be adopted by retailers, social networking sites, schools and charities and displayed where appropriate. Parents will be able to access a website for Internet safety advice hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection center. "Today we are launching our online version of the 'green cross code'. We hope that 'zip it, block it, flag it' will become as familiar to this generation as 'stop, look, listen' did to the last," said Prime Minister Brown. Continue reading →

Facebook Profiles Reflect True Personality

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:30:07 +0000

Social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate genuine personality, instead of an exaggerated identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling at The University of Texas at Austin. "I was surprised by the findings because the widely held assumption is that people are using their profiles to promote an enhanced impression of themselves," said Gosling of the more than 700 million people worldwide who have online profiles. "In fact, our findings suggest that online social networking profiles convey rather accurate images of the profile owners, either because people aren't trying to look good or because they are trying and failing to pull it off." Gosling and a team of researchers collected 236 profiles of college-aged people from the United States (Facebook) and Germany (StudiVZ, SchuelerVZ). The researchers used questionnaires to assess the profile owners' actual personality characteristics as well as their ideal-personality traits (how they wished to be). The personality traits include: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. In the study, observers rated the profiles of people they did not know. These ratings were then compared to the profile owners' actual personality and their ideal personality. Personality impressions based on online social network profiles were accurate and were not affected by profile owners' self-idealization. Accuracy was strongest for extraversion, mirroring results of face-to-face meetings and lowest for neuroticism. Those findings were consistent with previous research showing that neuroticism is difficult detect without being in person. "I think that being able to express personality accurately contributes to the popularity of online social networks in two ways," said Gosling. "First, it allows profile owners to let others know who they are and, in doing so, satisfies a basic need to be known by others. "Second, it means that profile viewers feel they can trust the information they glean from online social network profiles, building their confidence in the system as a whole." Related Articles: > Yahoo Deepens Integration With Facebook > Facebook Cracks 350 Million Users, Adjusts Privacy Settings > Nearly Half Of Consumers Would Recommend A Product On Facebook Continue reading →

NY AG Works With Facebook And MySpace To Remove Sex Offenders

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:16:05 +0000

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said today that more than 3,500 registered state sex offenders have been removed for social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. Under New York's e-STOP law, which was written by Cuomo, Facebook was able to identify and disable accounts linked to 2,782 registered New York sex offenders, and MySpace was able to identify and shutdown accounts linked to 1,796 sex offenders. Some registered sex offenders had profiles on both sites, leaving a total of 3,533 individuals removed from Facebook and MySpace. New York State has more than 8,100 sex offenders who registered emails with the state. That means over 43 percent of those sex offenders have identified accounts linked to Facebook or MySpace. Andrew Cuomo "We created e-STOP to help put an end to sexual predators using the Internet as a tool to prey on the innocent," said Attorney General Cuomo . "Facebook and MySpace are successfully using e-STOP to help make the Internet safer, and it's time for all social networking sites to do their part to keep others from being senselessly victimized." Under the e-STOP law many sexual predators are banned from using social networking sites on the Internet while on probation or parole. Continue reading →

Animators Collaborate on Facebook All the Way to the Theaters

cgseo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:58:56 +0000

Last fall, Mass Animation , which calls itself the largest global animation collaboration ever, posted an invitation on Facebook for artists around the world to collaborate on the making of an animated short film. This film is now getting a theatrical release this week with Columbia Pictures' Planet 51 release. It's called "Live Music." "When artists arrived at Mass Animation's virtual studio on Facebook, they were given the essential tools and animation software necessary to participate, including individual storyboards and 3D models bundled for download along with guidelines on animation," a representative for Facebook tells WebProNews. "Through the social networking features of the application, animated shots could then be viewed, voted on and shared with friends." "'Live Music' reflects the input of Continue reading →

Who We Are On The Social Web

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:52:17 +0000

I'm a different person at work than I am at home. I tell different jokes. I have different stories. I share different experiences with different people in different ways depending on a host of different factors (e.g., how well we know each other; where we went to school; what our shared interests may be, etc.). The context in which I know people is different from one person, one situation to the next. By and large, this is a good thing. I wouldn't want my co-workers to know all that my wife knows and my wife wouldn't be interested in all that my co-workers know. Not surprisingly, online these relationships play out differently through different social networks. As a fairly engaged social networker (and dork), I recently tested my own social networks for what I'm calling, "social overlap" – the percent of overlapping "friends and followers" I have between the three social networks I am engaged in most: Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. (I highly recommend doing this exercise yourself, it shows a number of revealing insights about yourself. Here are some of mine. I'd love to hear your findings in the comments . This analysis shows how few of my contacts overlap between different social networking platforms. This online fact echoes my offline reality of having different kinds of relationships with different people depending on the context of how we know one another. My own lack of "social overlap" is complemented by a recent report from Forrester. Analyst Jeremiah Owyang (who recently left the company) suggests , "Today's social experience is disjointed because consumers have separate identities in each social network they visit." Owyang goes on to say, "This creates friction for consumers who must now manage multiplying personal information and username/password combinations." As a solution to this "friction" Owyang predicts that people will bring a single online identity from one social network to the next. Early examples of this prediction coming to light are "Facebook Connect," which allows users to "connect" their Facebook identity to any site, and "Open ID," a potential social network standard for a shared identity system. However, a single online ID seems out of synch with how we (or at least I) naturally relate to others in our offline/real world lives. Maybe I like having different platforms on which to interact with co-workers vs. family members. Maybe I'm not comfortable showing the same side of me to everyone I know, regardless of how I know them. Maybe my lack of "social overlap" online is a good thing...much as it is offline. The point here is not to knock a single online ID, it's to ask bigger questions about who we are on the social web. How are we different consumers in different contexts? What permission do we give different brands on different sites? How does your brand fit in with your customers on Facebook differently than it does on Twitter? Because it's not just a different tool, it may be a "different person" with whom you're connecting. These questions point to the critical need to listen first before coming to market with a social media strategy. To understand how your customers think of your brand, product or service as relevant and meaningful in different social media contexts. Because maybe your customers are not the same people in one context that they are in another.

Read more here:
Who We Are On The Social Web

Yahoo Launches Spanish Version of Mobile Home Page

cgseo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:31:50 +0000

Yahoo has launched Yahoo Mobile in Spanish. This is a Spanish-language version of the Yahoo Mobile home page, which is customized specifically for U.S. Hispanic consumers, and is available on over 1,900 devices. "By bringing together U.S. Hispanic consumers' favorite content and services from across the Internet, Yahoo! Mobile en Espa Continue reading →